Highway 1 – Morro Bay to Santa Barbara

The stretch of Highway 1 from Morro Bay to Santa Barbara was a fun day full of surprises. I had insisted to Louise that we try to spot some sights from the fantastic movie “Sideways” which is made around the Santa Barbara wine country. One of those stops was  Ostrichland which was great fun. Louise actually chose to not enter, (there you missed something Louise), but I had never seen Ostriches close up and was eager to meet them eye to eye. I had such a good laugh watching those beasts, a real energy boost 😉 However I was a bit afraid of feeding them since they are not exactly the friendlies animals on earth.

After Ostrichland it was time to stop by the Danish village Solvang. My pre feeling was that this was going to be a real tourist trap that we would quickly rush through and leave with a disappointing feeling. But it actually turned out very different. Sure, Solvang is very touristic but it has a natural Danish feel. It is a pretty place full of greenery, great architecture and cosy cafés. 🙂

As we continued towards our stop for the night, Santa Barbara, we took the opportunity to take a detour around the beautiful wine country of Santa Barbara. Most tourists, including myself, immediately associate Napa Valley with California wine. But I found Santa Barbara (where “Sideways” was shot) much more pretty. It was a well worth detour 🙂

Once we had checked into our motel for the night we took a stroll through central Santa Barbara. What a pretty place! Palm lined streets and lots of great people watching. And a beautiful Courthouse from where you had amazing views. In the evening they had an open air movie/picknick event. We would have loved to stay but as the sun sunk it became really cold and we instead opted for an early evening at the motel.